State and local officials are urging residents to prepare for what may be a monster storm, currently making its way toward Connecticut's coastline.

Hurricane Sandy has been called a "Frankenstorm" by the National Weather Service, due to an "unusual merger" of meteorological forces. As of Thursday evening the Category 2 hurricane was in the Bahamas, north of Cuba, but is expected to merge with a polar cold front to create a "hybrid vortex" and some uncertainty.

"Once the combined gyre materializes, it should settle back to the interior Northeast through Halloween, inviting perhaps a ghoulish nickname for the cyclone along the lines of 'Frankenstorm,' an allusion to Mary Shelley's Gothic creature of synthesized elements," the National Weather Service wrote in its forecast.

Add to that a full moon high tide Monday evening, which will cause the water level to rise about a foot, even without high wind and rain.

Expected to make landfall near the Connecticut coastline at about 2 p.m. Tuesday, the National Weather Service said residents can expect to "feel the impacts of a dangerous coastal storm late this weekend into early next week." High winds, "widespread" downing of trees, "significant" flooding and other damage can be anticipated.

Quincy Vagell, a meteorologist with Storm Team 8 at WTNH, said where the storm will strike land is a "coin flip." The latest models, he said, show landfall somewhere between New Jersey and Rhode Island.

If the eye bears down on New Jersey, Vagell said winds could whip waves in Long Island Sound as high as 30 feet.

WTNH's wxedge.com details three possible tracks the storm could take here, including one that brings it directly over Connecticut.

Most hurricanes, Vagell said, like last year's Tropical Storm Irene, hug the coast and lose strength. Sandy is following an unusual route, remaining over water and gaining power as a result.

"I don't think a storm has come in from that direction since the '50s," he said. "Depending on where it makes landfall, it could be worse than Irene."

"We will prepare for the absolute worst and hope for the best," Rick Fontana, New Haven's deputy director of Emergency Management Operations, said during a phone interview Thursday night. "I can only look at what the scientists are saying, and I take it all pretty serious. There is some significance to this storm."

Fontana said the odd combination of tropical hurricane and polar cold front, not seen, he said, since 1991, is creating some level of uncertainty. He's looking forward to the possibility of rain, hail or even snow.

"I'm not a doom and gloom kind of guy," Fontana said. "But we have to take this serious."

Fontana echoed the sentiments of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who said in a statement Thursday that residents should begin preparing now.

"Just as the state is monitoring and preparing, the public should do the same," Malloy said. "Some models predict that Sandy may move onshore somewhere in New England early next week. Although we are not certain the storm will impact the state, we need to be prepared. That means everyone, especially the state's utility companies."

Fontana spent Thursday making sure communication lines were open in New Haven, and that equipment was prepped and ready. Officials in other towns were doing the same.

East Haven Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director Douglas Jackson said the fire department has started getting all their equipment ready whether it's for rescues, clearing trees or pumping out water. Jackson said he's been in communication with the state and other officials to get as ready as they can.

Thursday, Jackson said he and others were down in the area of Cosey Beach Avenue, where homes are still missing or in the process of being rebuilt after Tropical Storm Irene ravaged the area over a year ago.

"It's still unsure what we're going to get, if we're going to get really nailed in a storm worse than Irene last year, it's not known for sure yet," he said.

In New Haven, Fontana said officials learned from last year's lessons, when Irene and a freak October snowstorm caused widespread power outages across the state. Since then, Malloy put together a two-storm panel, tasked with improving the state's emergency responses. It helped, according to Fontana.

"Based on the models and the tracking, it could replicate what Irene did," he said. "The planning process and response process is going to be better than last year.